Shoma, the fattest sheep that farmer Bholu had ever reared, waddled out of her pen with a frown on her face. Of course, Bholu could not notice the frown but Shoma’s mother, the mighty ewe did. She hustled Shoma off to the fields to let her graze, watching after her thoughtfully.
Shoma walked as if in a daze. She stood looking moodily at the field of clover as her brothers and sisters all grazed on. Shoma did not eat because she had a toothache. And boy, did her tooth hurt! It hurt when she chewed, it hurt when she drank and it hurt when she clenched her jaw.
Shoma’s mother walked out to the field. She patted Shoma on her head and gave her a loving look. Shoma blinked back her tears. “It hurts”, she whispered. “Your tooth will come out in a few days. Keep it for the tooth fairy and she will bring you something”, said her mother kindly. “I will bring you special clover to chew on.”
Shoma sat with her mother inside the pen, chewing the tasty, rough clover that her mother had got for her. There was something hard in the clover. Shoma spat it out to see a white, pointed bloodied…. tooth! “I lost my tooth”, she said meekly. “Well, that is good! And it does not hurt any more!”, her mother beamed. “No, it doesn’t”, said Shoma excitedly, feeling the blank spot with her tongue.
“Put it under your pillow when you sleep”, her mother said gaily. That night Shoma was wide awake. Her tooth, wrapped in a bit of leaf was under the straw that Shoma used for a pillow. Her brothers and sisters had gawked at her tooth till late in the night. They turned it over and sighed. They checked their own teeth to see if they had a loose one.
And now, after a long time, Shoma felt like closing her eyes. I want to see the fairy, she thought. And then she slept. The next morning, Shoma scraped through the straw anxiously. “Oh, my!”, she exclaimed. There was the roundest and shiniest copper coin anybody had ever seen! Shoma danced with joy. “Oh, when would I lose another tooth?”, she asked.